Tuesday, September 25, 2012

And our ghost peppers keep amazing us - you can see 8 on this part of this plant alone! That's a lot of hot!

I've been enjoying documenting my garden's growth in pictures. The Mr thought, after seeing a lot of dark and/or not-so-clear pictures, that I should get some better equipment.

We've got a digital SLR (Canon XTi) and some decent lenses. But because I take pictures generally either late evening or early morning, I had taken to using my phone. Which is not as good.

He bought me a light box. This has been fantastic for shooting my harvests. You see, one of the most important things you need for taking pictures is light. This allows you to have two separate light sources, and the box makes the light soft and diffuse. Also - not very expensive.

Getting close to plants can make the photos so much better. I've wanted a macro lens (which would allow me to be very very close indeed) but macro lenses are very expensive. But - The Mr found an alternative solution. Macro filters - basically a magnifying glass that fits onto your regular lens, letting you get a lot closer to your subject. And these? Very inexpensive - about $11.

Another fantastic gift was this flash cable. It allows me to take the external flash that I have for my camera off of my camera and move it to the side so that the flash is not quite so "in your face". Also not expensive - in the $10 range.

For a bit of a comparison, the first shot here is in the light box, but no flash and no macro filter. The second has a macro filter and the flash, which is on a tripod to the side of the shot.

I've been having a lot of fun with my new toys, and am finding that there is a lot you can do with not too much of an investment but a bit of creativity!

Not sure what the next week will bring. You will have to check back next week to see - in the meantime, check out An Oregon Cottage for her weekly Garden Party.